Category Archives: Charger Hockey News

Hoof Beats: Ref’s-eye view

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During one of UAH’s games in Fairbanks against the Alaska Nanooks, the referees wore helmet cameras. Below is how the officials saw and heard the game.

While it’s not one of the most fun videos to see if you’re a Charger fan (what with all the Nanook goal scoring), it is interesting to see the game from the referee’s point of view.

In case you missed it: Penalty Box Radio in Nashville was in town to catch the Chargers’ Saturday game against Lake Superior State. They have interviews with Coach Mike Corbett and goal-scorers Jeff Vanderlugt and Matt Salhany.

Save the date: The UAH Hockey Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 7 at 1 p.m. at Hampton Cove Golf Club. We’ll pass along further details for this important fundraiser as they become available.

Around the WCHA: If you’ve been following Geof’s WCHA projections, you already know that the race for playoff positioning is fierce.

Ferris State holds a four-point lead atop the standings after a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage at home while second-place Minnesota State was idle. Both teams have clinched the top two seeds with four games to go. Ferris State moved up to No. 4 and Minnesota State enters at No. 19 in this week’s USCHO.com poll.

With Michigan Tech’s home-and-home sweep of rival Northern Michigan, the third-place Huskies have secured a playoff spot as well (they can’t finish lower than eighth). Only seven points separate third from ninth.

Lake Superior State’s sweep of UAH propelled the Lakers into a tie for fifth.

WCHA Standings Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts W L T
y-Ferris State 24 18 4 2 38 23 7 3
y-Minnesota State 24 17 7 0 34 19 13 0
x-Michigan Tech 26 12 10 4 28 14 16 6
Alaska-Anchorage 26 11 11 4 26 15 13 4
Lake Superior State 24 12 12 0 24 16 15 1
Alaska 24 11 11 2 24 14 12 4
Bowling Green 24 10 10 4 24 13 13 6
Bemidji State 24 9 11 4 22 9 16 7
Northern Michigan 24 10 13 1 21 12 18 2
Alabama-Huntsville 24 1 22 1 3 1 32 1

x-Clinched playoff berth.
y-Clinched home ice in first round.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
All times Central.
* WCHA game.

Friday, February 28
* UAH at Bemidji State, 7:37 p.m.
* Bowling Green at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Minnesota State at Lake Superior, 6:37 p.m.
* Ferris State at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.

Saturday, March 1
* UAH at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m.
* Bowling Green at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Minnesota State at Lake Superior, 6:07 p.m.
* Ferris State at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.

Kids get in free this weekend; plus bobbleheads!

Charger Blue bobblehead dolls will be given to the first 500 fans at Saturday's game.

Charger Blue bobblehead dolls will be given to the first 500 fans at Saturday’s game.

Coming off Saturday’s their thrilling victory at Bowling Green, the Chargers host Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday at Propst Arena at Von Braun Center. Puck drop both nights is 7:07 p.m.

Kids 12 and under get free admission both nights, compliments of the Huntsville International Airport.

On Friday night, the first 500 fans receive a set of UAH hockey trading cards. Get tickets

On Saturday night, the first 500 fans receive a Charger Blue bobblehead doll. Get tickets

Come out and cheer on the Chargers in the final home series before the holidays!

 

Hoof Beats: Checking on future Chargers

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Last week, we updated you on how some former Chargers are doing in the pros. This week, we’re have some updates on who will be donning the blue and white in the near future.

Max McHugh

Max McHugh signs his national letter of intent to play for UAH in 2014-15 (photo via Twitter).

The early signing period for 2014-15 concluded on November 20. We currently know of one signing.

Max McHugh is a forward for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The Edgewood, Wash. native scored 41 goals and 105 points over the last three seasons for the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League. This season he has five points in 17 games for the Fighting Saints, and helped Dubuque win the bronze medal at the Junior Club World Cup last summer.

UAH has picked up three more verbal commitments:

Josh Kestner, a Huntsville native, is coming to UAH next season. The Huntsville High grad is in his second season with the Sarnia Legionnaires of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. He is currently seventh in the GOJHL with 39 points in 25 games.

Joey Marooney, Cody‘s brother, announced he will join the Chargers in 2015. The Eden Prairie, Minn. native is a forward for Holy Family Catholic High School.

Ivan Bondarenko committed to UAH earlier this month, and is slated to become the Chargers’ first-ever Russian player in 2015. Bondarenko is tearing up the NPHL with the West Sound Warriors, with 15 goals and 17 assists in just 14 games this season.

For more information on UAH’s recruiting, visit the Commitments page. A reminder: The university and the coaching staff cannot officially comment on any player until he has signed an National Letter of Intent, and UAHHockey.com is not affiliated with the university or the coaching staff.

Happy Thanksgiving: In this week’s episode of Tradition Continues, the team would like to pass on their holiday wishes:

Up next: The Chargers make their first of two trips to South Bend, Indiana, this weekend. UAH plays host Notre Dame in the Shillelagh Tournament on Friday at 6:35 p.m. The Chargers play either Northeastern or Western Michigan on Saturday.

A shillelagh is a wooden club or cudgel associated with the Irish. Is that what Notre Dame calls their hockey sticks?

Another shutout for Talbot: Cam Talbot was back in the South on Saturday night, and he earned his second shutout in as many starts. The former Charger and current New York Ranger made 17 stops in a 2-0 victory over the Predators at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The Rangers have won in Talbot’s last five starts.

Final Movember/Nike fundraising reminder: Movember ends Saturday, so please consider donating to the Chargers’ team to help fight prostate cancer.

Also, the UAH hockey Nike gear fundraiser also ends Saturday. A portion of the sales go straight to the UAH hockey program.

Around the WCHA: Ferris State remained undefeated in league play after a sweep of Alaska in Big Rapids, Mich. The Bulldogs are 7-0-1 in the WCHA, leading Bemidji State (which split at home with Lake Superior) by four points despite playing two fewer conference games. Bowling Green split with Minnesota State in Mankato to stay in third place with nine points.

Ferris State moved up four spots in this week’s USCHO.com poll to No. 6, and earned a first-place vote. Lake Superior State is the WCHA’s other ranked team, staying at No. 16. In the USA Today/USA Hockey poll, Ferris is ranked seventh.

WCHA Standings Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts W L T
Ferris State 8 7 0 1 15 10 2 1
Bemidji State 10 5 4 1 11 5 7 2
Bowling Green 8 4 3 1 9 6 5 3
Northern Michigan 6 4 2 0 8 6 5 1
Alaska-Anchorage 8 3 3 2 7 6 4 2
Lake Superior State 6 3 3 0 6 7 4 1
Minnesota State 6 3 3 0 6 5 7 0
Michigan Tech 6 2 3 1 5 4 8 2
Alaska 6 2 4 0 4 5 5 2
Alabama-Huntsville 8 0 8 0 0 0 12 0


THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
All times Central.
* WCHA game.

Friday, November 29
UAH at Notre Dame (Shillelagh Tournament), 6:35 p.m.
* Ferris State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Bowling Green at Lake Superior State, 6:37 p.m.
* Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota State, 7:37 p.m.
* Michigan Tech at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.
Miami at Bemidji State, 7:37 p.m.

Saturday, November 30
UAH vs. Northeastern or Western Michigan, 3:05 or 6:35 p.m.
* Ferris State at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Bowling Green at Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
* Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota State, 7:07 p.m.
* Michigan Tech at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.
Miami at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m.

Hoof Beats: The buzz is rising…

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It’s October! It’s finally here!

Now that we’re in October, the buzz for the new season is cranking up. “Buzz” is an interesting word as we close in on the home opener against Bemidji in only three weeks: On the WCHA coaches conference call last week, the Von Braun Center was referred to as a “hornet’s nest.”

That means expected high decibel levels, people. Get your tickets now. And if top-level college hockey isn’t enough…

Promotions: UAH released the 2013-14 promotional schedule on Tuesday, and it’s the biggest in Charger history. T-shirts, pucks, bobbleheads, thundersticks — even mini toy rockets (we are Huntsville after all) will be given away at the 16 home games. Plus, there will be many in-game activities and opportunities for free admission for kids. We’ve added the promotions to our own schedule page.

Snag one of these posters at the Madison Street Festival on Saturday.

Snag one of these posters at the Madison Street Festival on Saturday.

Posterized: The boys will be at the Madison Street Festival on Saturday. Meet the team and get this lovely schedule poster.

Preseason: The Chargers still have a week before their season opener at Northeastern, but the rest of the WCHA will be action this weekend. Ferris State travels to Colgate to get the college hockey season officially under way, while the rest of the league is in preseason exhibitions.

The preseason poll was released by USCHO.com on Monday. The only ranked WCHA team is conference favorite Minnesota State, which starts at No. 11. Other league teams receiving votes are Ferris State, Michigan Tech, Alaska, and Bowling Green.

Professional: The latest pro signing of a former Charger is Sebastian Geoffrion. After his tryout agreement with Nashville, Geoffrion signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Former UAH players Davide Nicoletti and Jeff Winchester played for Cincinnati last season.

To check out how our alumni are faring in professional hockey all around the world (and we mean all around the world), visit our In the Pros page.

Podium: Head coach Mike Corbett spoke to the Huntsville Rotary Club on Tuesday, and the program got a Twitter plug from Mayor Tommy Battle.

Predictions: You’ve seen the WCHA preseason poll by the media. The coaches poll isn’t much different (although by my math, one coach doesn’t have us last). It is what it is. We’ve got a lot of lost time to make up. But it’s going to be fun to watch this program grow and rise again thanks to the renewed support of the university and its fans.

Hoof Beats: Alumni edition

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Practice officially began on Sunday! With three weeks to go before the season opener at Northeastern, here’s some news and notes with an alumni flair. UAHHockey.com will have a special page soon detailing where all currently active former Chargers will be playing this season.

Alumni discount on season tickets: The UAH Alumni Association on Monday announced that UAH alumni can get a 10 percent discount on season tickets. Just say you are an alum when you call 256-UAH-PUCK.

Kyle Lysaght update: Look who was on the ice on Wednesday!

http://twitter.com/morgee11/status/380447442581221376

Kyle was critically injured in a car accident in Atlanta in March.

Talbot in Rangers’ preseason action: Former Charger Cameron Talbot has seen action in both New York Ranger preseason games so far, stopping 21 of 24 shots in just over 56 minutes.  Talbot got the win in relief of Martin Biron in the Rangers’ 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Munroe in Sweden: Another former UAH netminder, Scott Munroe, has started his 2013-14 season with the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League. Munroe, who was in the Flyers organization, has a 2.4 goals against average and .895 save percentage in two starts. Watch an interview with Munroe on the Lakers web site.

Ross back with Ingolstadt: Jared Ross is back in Germany for this third season with ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He’s starting the season on the injured list with a slipped disk and will be out for a month.

Changes to the Pairwise: The Division I Men’s Hockey Committee introduced changes to its NCAA Tournament selection process on Friday, giving added weight to road wins and less for home wins. This might lead the larger schools from the power conferences (Big 10, NCHC, Hockey East) to schedule more non-conference games on the road. It will be interesting to see if “big name” schools will now want to visit Huntsville.

Hoof Beats: T-minus 30 days

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As of this writing, there are 30 days until the boys open the season in Boston against the Northeastern Huskies. It is time to get ready for hockey goodness!

You can probably tell that we’ve spruced up the site a bit. Hopefully you’ll enjoy our changes as we enter this new era of Charger hockey. We’ll be adding more as we get closer to the opening faceoff.

For now, here’s some news and notes about your Chargers, in case you missed it:

Have you ordered your season tickets yet? Prior season ticket holders should re-new your seats by September 24 in order to get our tickets mailed in time for our home opener (vs. Bemidji State on October 25). Also note that season tickets come with memberships to the Blue Line Club. All the information and order forms are on our tickets and Blue Line Club pages.

Huntsville native commits: Ted Rotenberger, a defenseman who grew up in the Rocket City, has a verbal commitment to UAH and is expected to play for the Chargers in 2015. Rotenberger plays for the TPH Thunder AAA U-18 midget program run by former Charger Nathan Bowen.

Gnash is coming: UAH hockey’s ties with the Nashville Predators continue. Gnash, the Preds’ mascot, will appear for the Chargers’ home opener against Bemidji.

In the community: Craig Pierce, Frank Misuraca, and Anderson White spent some quality time reading to kids at Blossomwood Elementary in Huntsville. Check out photos here, here, here, and here.

Brice to wear 57: If you’ve seen the new season’s roster, you’ll notice senior Brice Geoffrion has a new, non-traditional number, a rarity at UAH. But Geoffrion wearing 57 this season is special: The numbers honor his Hall of Fame, Montreal Canadien ancestors.  The 5 is for his grandfather, Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, and the 7 is for his great-grandfather, Howie Morenz. Before his retirement, Brice’s brother Blake wore 57 after he was traded to Montreal in 2012.

Sebastian in Predators camp: Sebastian Geoffrion, who was at the Predators’ rookie camp last week, was to start training camp with the team today on a tryout agreement.

Matty Thomas Named Assistant Coach

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Matty Thomas Our coaching staff is complete.  Gavin Morgan will be the lead assistant, and Matty Thomas is joining the program:

Following two seasons working with the illustrious University of Denver hockey program, Thomas joined the Chargers in the summer of 2013 to work with the UAH defensemen and penalty kill this upcoming season.

Thomas served as the volunteer assistant coach for the seven-time NCAA champion Denver Pioneers from 2011 to 2013, appearing in the national tournament in both of his seasons. While at Denver, he contributed in numerous aspects within the program; including video, practice planning and individual on-ice instruction. Prior to his arrival in Denver, Thomas served as assistant coach with the United States Naval Academy hockey program (ACHA) from 2009 to 2011.

A 2005 graduate of the Naval Academy, Thomas was commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy. He then completed three wartime deployments during tours aboard USS MONTEREY (CG 61) and USS ELROD (FFG 55), serving as Tomahawk Strike Officer and Damage Control Assistant, respectively. During his final tour of duty at Military Sealift Command Headquarters in Washington D.C., Thomas rejoined Navy hockey as an assistant coach. While there, he was responsible for recruiting, video coordination, special-teams strategies, classroom sessions, team-building development and off-ice conditioning.

I missed Matty when I went to the hockey office earlier this week, but I can tell you that everyone’s excited to have him. I’ve also spoken with some DU fans who speak very highly of him.

Hoof Beats: Corbett and identity

  • Coach Mike Corbett continues to make the media rounds in his first weeks as head coach. He was featured on USCHO.com, with the main theme of establishing UAH’s identity as a hockey program. Corbett also touched on this in his recent interview on Penalty Box Radio in Nashville.
  • The Bemidji Pioneer takes a look at UAH as it begins its series on the teams in the reconstructed WCHA. We plan to post a retrospective of the 20-year UAH-Bemidji rivalry in time for the home opener on October 25.
  • The WCHA on Wednesday released its full 2013-14 composite schedule.

Hoof Beats: More on Corbett; Geoffrion, Saunders in Camp

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We have our conference, we have our schedule, and now we have our coach. In case you missed it, Mike Corbett will be behind our bench when the boys start the 2013-14 season at Northeastern.

  • Mark McCarter of The Huntsville Times spoke with Corbett in advance of his visit to Huntsville next week. He’s a big fan of Nick Saban and “The Process.” Corbett also talks about plans for his staff.
  • Joe Paisley of The Gazette (Colorado Springs) discussed with Corbett how his expanded role at Air Force helped him get the UAH job. Corbett is the third assistant for Frank Serratore to leave for a head coaching position: Derek Schooley at Robert Morris, Bob Motzko at St. Cloud State.
  • Sebastian Geoffrion is participating in the Nashville Predators development camp this week. “Seabass” is excited to work out with the team that drafted his brother Blake. Pics of Sebastian in action are here and here.
  • Meanwhile, goaltender Clarke Saunders, who transferred from UAH to North Dakota, is with the Washington Capitals camp. Pics of Clarke are here and here.
  • Countdown: 93 days until the season opener at Northeastern, 107 days until the home and WCHA opener against Bemidji State.